


The Boy Lost And Then Found

by skrrtnation



Series: Five Centric Fics [1]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Number Five | The Boy-centric, Reginald Hargreeves' A+ Parenting, delores is his emotional support mannequin, five ben and klaus the portals of the family, five is actually a kid, five needs a nap, luther is not an asshole, major character death is not bentacles, mostly nonverbal five for a bit, oh yeah the character death is reggy boy, one a portal for himself, one a portal for the dead, one a portal for things affectionately named terrors, thats his emotional support horror sir, they all work together to help him
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-14
Updated: 2020-08-17
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:21:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25897348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skrrtnation/pseuds/skrrtnation
Summary: There was five, five who had been away from his family so long, five who had to bury all six of his siblings when he jumped too far, found the academy in ruins with them half buried in rubble, five whose only form of solace was delores, the mannequin he’d found partially destroyed in the storefront of Klaus’ favorite shop to sneak out to. Five who stopped talking the third day of trying his damn best to survive, five who only ate once a week if lucky, five who nearly drove himself mad at 13 trying to find a way back to his alive siblings, five who against all odds survived for almost four years until he cracked the code of going back, to the right time, he hoped, no, he needed the code to be right. And so when he landed in the still whole courtyard he couldn't help the tears, what was left of delores tightly in his arms. Then the fear strikes him, what if they're still dead, what if he was still too late. His mouth opens, a strangled attempt at a shout tumbles out. His voice is hoarse and sounds wrong in his ears, but he fights to make the familiar shapes with his mouth. “Ben, Klaus, Vanya-” its filled with sorrow, the mantra he followed to keep himself alive, the names of his family.
Relationships: Number Five & Vanya Hargreeves & Ben Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy & Allison Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy & Ben Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy & Ben Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy & Ben Hargreeves & Vanya Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy & Diego Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy & Grace Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy & Klaus Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy & Luther Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy & Vanya Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy (Umbrella Academy) & Everyone
Series: Five Centric Fics [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1888138
Comments: 7
Kudos: 149





	1. one

They’re piled up on two couches for movie night when there's a trill from the courtyard followed by bright blue light and a loud thud, three of them are up in moments, untangling with the same once dead hope beating in their chests, the hope their brother would come home, four six and seven, moving like a mess of limbs with three heads, a beast that once had four, all those years ago, the loss of five felt like the loss of a limb, it was. 

There was five, five who had been away from his family so long, five who had to bury all six of his siblings when he jumped too far, found the academy in ruins with them half buried in rubble, five whose only form of solace was Delores, the mannequin he’d found partially destroyed in the storefront of Klaus’ favorite shop to sneak out to. Five who stopped talking the third day of trying his damn best to survive, five who only ate once a week if lucky, five who nearly drove himself mad at 13 trying to find a way back to his alive siblings, five who against all odds survived for almost four years until he cracked the code of going back, to the right time, he hoped, no, he needed the code to be right. And so when he landed in the still whole courtyard he couldn't help the tears, what was left of Delores tightly in his arms. Then the fear strikes him, what if they're still dead, what if he was still too late. His mouth opens, a strangled attempt at a shout tumbles out. His voice is hoarse and sounds wrong in his ears, but he fights to make the familiar shapes with his mouth. “Ben, Klaus, Vanya-” its filled with sorrow, the mantra he followed to keep himself alive, the names of his family.

The three headed piles hearts leap with an odd sort of heavy, melancholy version of joy, cathartic, at the sound of their names in a voice that was reserved for their memories, they are in the courtyard in an instant to find their brother not much older than the day he left, shaggy hair and a dirty face, in clothes several sizes too big, what looked to be a mannequin from the shoulders up cradled tightly in his arms, standing on shaky legs. The three of them say his name like a prayer, a prayer that this is real, a prayer answered when five falls to one side and they are around him like a flash, the fourth head is finally reattached. 

Five latches onto the one in front of him, eyes too blurry to tell who it is, has a fistful of what he thinks is fabric covered in sequins, klaus. He hears them exchanging words, whispering above his head as they sat in the dirt, he then hears the door to the courtyard open, and what sounds like his father's footsteps, here to drag him away and punish him, five is sure. His eyes shut tighter, an attempt to stop the tears before his father reaches him, it's not successful, the tears falling unabashed. There's a hand on his head, he flinches hard, expecting to be dragged up by his scalp, but instead the hand cards through his hair, feather light. He opens his eyes to look up and instead of Sir Reginald, its Luther, their footsteps always did sound the same. He relaxes, raises his free arm up, hand flexing. 

Luther is confused, Vanya notices. “He wants you to pick him up, L.” she says, and five nods once, scrambling out of her, Ben, and klaus’ grip. Luther bends down and scoops him up, holds him the way he holds Claire when she spends the night at the academy and is too tired to go up the stairs herself. Alison, who had been lingering at the door, gave her now youngest brother a soft smile. “We should get him inside.” she says in a tone that matches the smile perfectly. Luther nods, the three on the ground get up and dust each other and themselves off, they all tumble in as Allison holds the door for them. 

Mom will be elated tomorrow morning to find her lost son has returned, but for now he’s sat on Luther's lap in clean clothes and a soft blanket, he refused to let go of the mannequin’ Delores, five strangled out while Ben helped him into pyjamas, so that meant he had no hands to eat the soup Allison made him, which is why klaus is sat on the coffee table in front of him, giving him soup by the spoonful, five pouts when he does the ‘here comes the airplane’ shtick and gives him the infamous number five death glare, although not at full strength. That just makes Klaus laugh, at least he doesn't say ‘here comes the airplane’ again. It's when Luther is carrying him to bed when five finally notices the urn on one of the tables, he prods his brother and points at it, his way of asking who’s it was. “Oh yeah, that's the old bastard. He died almost a year ago.” five is surprised to hear luther use the name the rest of them gave dad, he used to start fights with Diego over it, but it’s a welcome surprise, Luther finally realized their father for what he is(a fucking asshole). Five smiles the same impish smile he gives when being a smartass and nods, signalling Luther to keep moving. 

Five got through half the night alone in his old bed until he caved into the selfish need itching in the back of his head, got up and set about collecting his siblings, Vanya first, then Ben and Klaus, then Allison, then Diego, and finally, he knocked on luther's door, the biggest of them opened it, clearly he’d woken him. It’d be fine though, five reassured himself as he slipped past Luther and into his room, followed by the rest of his siblings, “He wants us all to sleep in the same bed.” a half asleep diego explains to the confused big oaf, making Luther smile and nod. It was the best sleep any of them had in awhile.

Panic struck grace when six out of seven of her children's rooms were empty, scared they’d left once again, she opened the door to Luther's room and gasped, she couldn't believe her eyes, her son, her baby, had returned, cradled between her other babies. Before she could pinch herself to see if she was still asleep, he was awake, clumsily crawling over the other six to get to his mother, hugging her as tight as he could, letting go before she could really hug back. “Who’s this?” she asks, referring to the mannequin in his arms. “Delores.” it's quiet and strained, but his voice is still the same. Grace bows to Delores and moves her eyes back up to her son's face. “Well would you and Delores like to help me with breakfast? I'm making pancakes.” Five nods quickly, taking her hand like he used to before Reginald made him stop, and motions for her to lead the way. Grace has the feeling she’ll be smiling a lot more than she usually does, and that’s saying a lot.


	2. two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> robomom and the boy make breakfast for the ungrateful bastards(fives terms) who are still asleep

Mother and son, together again, and finally she can comfort him with no fear of a reboot, she’s allowed to want things now, and right now she wants to make breakfast with her son, so that's what she does. She’s in charge of the pancakes and the bacon, five sets the table and makes the eggs, Grace hums and talks about what the other six siblings have been up to. 

Meanwhile upstairs, five’s six siblings start to stir, waking, reaching for where five was between them, and when he isn't there, there’s commotion as they all get up, terrified he’s left again, all of them scrambling to search the house, their search turned up nothing until they checked the kitchen, to find their mother and smallest sibling cooking, five on the tips of his toes leaning over a pan. Klaus laughs, he can’t help himself, Diego and Ben join in only to be met with a death glare from five, he gives them the bird too, which makes all six of them laugh. Traitors. Five turns back to the stove, pouting. 

When the food is done, they all sit at the much more homey table that five assumes they replaced the old, big, cold, one with. ‘You all are ungrateful bastards.’ He signs, and that makes Klaus laugh again, choking on his orange juice, which is met with a smug grin and. ‘Karma.’ Klaus pouts and Ben shrugs. “He’s right, man.” five kicks Ben in the shin under the table. ‘Lets not forget you laughed too.’ Diego learns from that, doesn’t add anything, and it’s quiet for a bit, until Allison speaks. “I didn’t think anyone could be smaller than Vanya.” she teases, met with twin glares from both Vanya and five. “Yeah, now we have two fun sized siblings.” adds Luther. “Says the giant.” Vanya grumbles, five pouts. ‘Yeah what she said. You guys are just freakishly tall.’ five would never admit it, at least not now, but he missed this, missed them, now, though, there were added bonus’, like being shoulder to shoulder and knee to knee with both Vanya and Diego. They’re acting like actual siblings now, all seven of them, together, or at least what five thinks siblings are supposed to be, no longer competing for dad's affections, no more fighting to survive, they’re all safe, they’re all home. 

Breakfast continues on with the same teasing nature and Grace silently listening, watching, so happy her babies are getting along. When Klaus gets up he stacks all of the dishes on his head, has Luther and Diego stack more on his hands, and then proceeds to dance like a chicken. ‘Where was this during breakfast, could have been food and a show.’ Klaus laughs, loses balance and the plates fall, well there's no crash but they tumble out of his hands and from his head, stopping three inches from the floor. “Thank you, dear Diego.” he bows. Diego rolls his eyes. “I just didn’t want mom to have to clean it up.” and then the plates float into the sink where they belong. Suddenly Ben is right behind five’s chair. “Oh yeah! Klaus where's the list?” five’s face scrunches. ‘List?’ then there’s a paper placed in front of him. ‘Things Daddy Reg actually did right’ The list was empty, until Ben leaned over his chair and scribbled down ‘Taught us sign language’ five looks back at his brother and is greeted with one of Ben’s award winning smiles, five smiles back. ‘You are still not forgiven.’ Ben pouts. ‘Fine, get the cookies for me and I’ll forget the offence.’ There's a smile on Ben’s face again as he turns to get the cookies on the second highest shelf of the pantry, bowing as he presented them to five. ‘All is forgiven, for now’ five digs into the cookies, smacking away both Klaus’ and Luther’s hands.


	3. three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> fair warning: this chapter is a flashback to five's first day in the apocalypse and it is full of angst

Five stormed out of the academy, his father's sneering words ringing in his head, he was right of course, the voice in the back of his head agreed, told him how horrible an idea it was, going through time, five didn’t care. He just wanted to prove his father wrong, so without caution he jumped, a smug look on his face as he did, first backwards, a decade and then two, three, four, all successful. The problem came when he tried to jump forward, to jump back, he’d promised Vanya he’d listen to her play, afterall, he needed to get back. 

He’d jumped too far forward, the shop he stood in front of was in ruin, crumbling down before his eyes, the first thing he thought of was the academy, and so with a panicked look, he turned around going into a dead sprint, jumping every few feet to save on time. The academy was in ruins, nothing was left standing, what the hell had happened here. “Ben! Vanya! Anyone!” it’s desperate, the same tone a scared little kid would have calling for their mother. There’s a groan, from underneath the rubble, the boy scrambling to where it came from, quickly moving rubble without any heed, there's sharp pains in his hands, something warm running down his palms. He doesn’t stop until he uncovers number four, Klaus, beaten and bloodied, barely hanging on. “Five? Am I seeing things? Are you here to lead me to the light?” Klaus asks, a lame attempt at a joke, sputtering up blood. “No, no. You idiot, you’re gonna be okay, where are the others?” five’s hyperventilating, scanning Klaus over for anything fatal, he can’t tell through all the gunk. His brother motions to the rubble around them. It’s all the incentive five needs to start digging through the chunks of the academy again, his hands hurt, his eyes burn, but he can’t stop, he has to find his other siblings, each of them are in worse shape than the last. 

Allison is the last one he finds, she’s barely coherent, muttering something, he places a gentle hand on her face. “Allison, what? What’d you say?” he asks softly, as soft as he can on the verge of quite possibly the worst breakdown he's ever had. “You have to, you have to put us out of our misery, five. There’s no way we’ll make it out of here.” he shakes his head jerkily. “No way, you’ll be okay, I promise.” It's a plea, a plea not to make him do this, he doesn’t think he’s strong enough to. Ben is the next to speak up. “Five, please. I don’t want to hurt anymore.” it’s desperate, all of their voices are as they plead with him to put them out of their misery. He crumbles, will shattering. “Okay.” he closes his eyes, and takes a deep breath. This is something he has to do, he tells himself, a necessary evil, they won’t be in pain anymore. He decides to do it in the order of their numbers, thinks bitterly about how his father would applaud him for that choice. He also picks the quickest way, quick and messy is what it was. Apologies tumbled out of his mouth and tears flowed down his face as he took the biggest piece of rubble he could find. Six times he had to do it, and six times he had to dig a grave, by the time the day had ended he was caked in dirt and blood, his aged siblings in the ground in unmarked graves. 

It was his fault, he was sure, the six people he cared about most were in the ground because of him, because he wasn’t there, all because he was stupid and angry and wanted to prove a point. He did prove a point, he proved his father was right, he’s just an immature kid. Because of his stupidity his hands would never be clean again, a permanent sick shade of crimson, underneath his fingernails and in between folds. The blood of the very people who he was meant to grow up with, who he loved, and no amount of soap or hot water could remove it.


	4. four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> here is more angst i am so sorry

Five woke with a start, pure adrenaline rushing through him as he did, the first day he spent in the apocalypse still fresh behind his eyes. There was someone in his room. Why was there someone in his room? He felt a hand on his shoulder and panicked, grabbing it and twisting, using the leverage to his advantage and restraining whoever it was in his room, a hand to their throat. It’s what he was trained to do somewhere along the line, his brain working completely on autopilot. When he looks down it’s Klaus, he has his hand around his brother's throat. The same hand that years ago took his life, still stained with his blood. Klaus’ mouth is moving, but there's no noise coming out. Five scrambles off of him, muttering apologies falling on his own unhearing ears, one second he's on the edge of his bed, then in a flash of blue he's pressed into the corner, as far away as he can get, doesn’t want Klaus to see the blood, his blood, tucking his hands into his armpits and drawing up his knees. It’s an attempt to seem smaller and less threatening, he knows, he can’t bring himself to look in even the direction of his bed, not when he can still feel the ghost of Klaus’ heartbeat in his hand. That’s the problem with an eidetic memory, he remembers everything in vivid detail. 

There are hands on his shoulders again, he knows whose they are, this time flinches away. The only thing he can hear is his heartbeat, thrumming in his eardrums, reminding him of how he used to be the only surviving Hargreeves. “-ve. Five. Hey, look at me, it’s okay, I’m okay, see?” his brother's voice finally broke through, five shook his head, he didn’t see. All he saw was his brother lying there, bleeding out in the rubble. Klaus seems to recognize the vacant stare in his eyes, a sympathetic look on his face. “Whatever you’re seeing isn’t real okay? It’s just your head playing a fucked up prank, alright? I’m fine, we’re all fine, you’re safe. Got that?” he waits for five to really hear it, what he said and when he gets a nod he takes it as an okay to untangle the boy from himself and give him a hug. 

“You’re okay.” Five says, muffled into Klaus’ shirt, it's a reassurance to himself more than anything. And sitting there, practically being engulfed by his brother he makes a promise to himself to never leave his siblings again, not for anything. The six oldest had made promises to themselves too, to never let go of their now youngest brother again.

**Author's Note:**

> this is a 100% self indulgent fix-it fic and i am unashamed an//im reformatting this haha gonna make it a series of oneshots and go from there yeah *thumbs up*


End file.
